Join us for the first program in Aullwood’s 2018 Winter Speaker Series, WOMEN IN SCIENCE, featuring five fascinating programs on natural subjects from a diverse group of presenters. Programs will be held on consecutive Sundays at 2:30 PM on January 14, 21 & 28 and February 4 & 11. Admission is $7 per adult (12 & over) and $5 per child (11-3); children 2 & under, Friends of Aullwood and National Audubon Society members are admitted free. Programs will be held at the Marie S. Aull Education Center, 1000 Aullwood Road, Dayton OH 45414. For a complete list of programs in the series, see the Aullwood Winter Speaker Series 2018 flyer. Questions about the series? Contact Sam Romeo at 937-890-7360 x223.

Robyn Wright-Strauss (Chief Naturalist, Edge of Appalachia) joined the staﬀ of the Edge of Appalachia in September 2014 and is in charge of Environmental Education Programs and Summer Science Camps. Her work with the EE program reaches third to seventh graders in Adams County through ﬁeld classes conducted on the preserve and through in-class presentations. She will be presenting on her work with children and the incredibly interesting and sometimes unusual plants, animals and insects they ﬁnd on the preserve. The Richard and Lucile Durrell Edge of Appalachia Preserve is one of the most biologically diverse collections of natural systems in the Midwestern U.S., encompassing rugged woodland, prairie openings, waterfalls, giant promontories and clear streams.

In the Edge of Appalachia, Ohio’s largest privately owned protected natural area, visitors will ﬁnd mixed mesophytic forests, ﬂowering and medicinal plants, and Appalachian herbs like great rhododendron and Canby’s mountain-lover. Many neotropical birds abound during warmer months, while imperiled animals like the Indiana bat, Green salamander and Allegheny woodrat persist throughout the year. More than 100 rare plant and animal species make their home within the preserve system.

Robyn’s previous work experience includes eight years with Wahkeena Nature Preserve in Sugar Grove, Ohio, time in the Wayne National Forest in Nelsonville, Ohio and Camp Oty’Okwa in Hocking County, Ohio. She has also volunteered for the Franklin County Metro Parks and Hocking County Soil and Water.